We Gots The Nug…

Well, here I am sitting down in a small town McDonalds contemplating writing another blog (and apparently doing so) but not too sure where to begin. I am hoping that watching people stuff their washed out wintery faces with all kinds of nuggetry will spark something special. The strange contrast between what I am seeing and smelling with the wonderous sounds of Vicente in my ears is kind of groovy. (I think Nana over there is actually chewing in perfect rhythm to this particular Bulerias!) So, given my particular surroundings, I have a feeling this will be more of a “nug” than a “blog”…. bear with me.

Well the past year has been a bit of a blur, filled with awesomeness and a familiar kind of internal insanity that keeps things interesting and always ridiculous Even to this day I still don’t know where any of it is going, or myself for that matter. So maybe it’s best I attempt to break down the current state of affairs and see where it leads me.

(hold on a sec….. i’m currently using my powers to deter a gang of little monkeys to NOT sit beside me… no, no, no, no, no…….fuck. Enjoy your nuggets.)

So as a lot of you know, we have just started announcing more shows. Hooray. Actually I really mean that. (here, cut and paste these… “!!!!!!”) We have held off playing for awhile because we are thinking a bit more conceptually now and needed more of an overall strategy in order to make it interesting. Believe it or not, it has been a difficult thing to accomplish with so many moving parts and obviously, opinions. I’m notoriously bad with this “outside opinion” thing but luckily and thankfully I have people around me (Chris and Zeke) that are great at this whole “working with people” thing… I have a ways to go “apparently”. We basically ended up saying “fuck it”, put the IME blinders on, and went for it… and now I am once again “interested”!!

Overuse of quotations aside, we didn’t really think the concept is that difficult. 2 shows, one day: A late afternoon, intimate, “deconstructed” acoustic performance with Q and A, followed by 2.5 – 3 hours of a full tilt IME show. We know that tickets are fucking crazy expensive these days for all artists, and just want to make sure our audiences know that we are willing to work our asses off for it, and for them. (I recently had some friends pay $125 for tickets to see some supposedly iconic Canadian band and they played for exactly 65 min, no encore….. fuck…. that…..seriously… you…. old….fucks)

(wait……. why am I “hearing” this guy eat his fucking McFlurry?? What the hell is in there!! I have headphones on for christ’s sake … mierda !!)

Ok, while I can’t promise exactly 5 hours of music every night, you get the point. We just want to offer a real experience to our fans, and play what we want, for as long as we want. No restrictions, no rules. This needs a couple of things to happen in order to move ahead: a decent band, great fans, flexible venues, amazing promotion partners, and strong fucking legs. Outside of the leg thing I think we have everything in order.

Let’s go to the beginning: for us it was Oakville. We played the Oakville Center for the Performing Arts, and have to say that this experience opened our eyes to many possibilities. First off, the main reason we ended up here was a man named Ronnie Brown and I need to say thanks. He basically went way outside the box and said “I want them here”. IME in a “soft seater”….hmmmm. A gamble perhaps in a lot of smaller minds, but not his, and definitely not ours. He didn’t know what to expect, and neither did we. What ended up happening was a real beautiful thing as it was sold out, our fans were respectful to the theatre (which was a definite concern), we played as long as we wanted (3h 20m), did a kick ass Q and A after that, and all parties involved left feeling great. This is a huge deal and a sacred synergy for a band like us… this “Trinity of Satisfaction” (I think it exists in porn too…) Basically, we just want the people spending the money to be satisfied that this IME partnership is good for all, and I think we achieved this on the night. So a huge thank you to the awesome staff in Oakville and the fans for getting thing started off right! We will see you again soon!

While we didn’t include the acoustic portion at this particular show, we have always known it can work, with the right partners involved. So with the announcement of the next batch of shows, IME just wants to point out our more unique and open minded friends who have jumped into this concept along with us (and you).

April 25th – LONDON (london concert theatre)
We have been dying to get back here since the huge show in the summer. London fans are awesome and every time we are there we end up going home with a lot of things to talk about. Going back to do our thing here is huge for us and we are really pumped up. Of course this is the full monty, with an acoustic performance and Q and A for a handful of people before the bigger show. London is specially noted because FM96 were the first ones to play “We Got the Love” (and the full version too!…yes there is a solo in the fucking song!) and consistently stayed on top of this tune for what seemed like an eternity… this is unheard of these days it seems. Somebody bless these people for doing the right thing!! ( I’d say god bless or something but judging from the table next to me… he might be busy elsewhere!!) So a massive thanks to Mark Cameron, Brad Gibb, and the entire team at FM96… I think I owe you another song.

April 26th – St. CATHARINES (caw hall)
Again, a fantastic place for us to play. 97.7 HTZfm is one of those stations that has always been there for IME. Our history goes back all the way to the beginning with these guys and it’s awesome to move ahead on a concept together… just like uh… really… old….times. Again we will do the whole concept here if nobody dies the night before in London. (even then, we’ll improvise…) So a huge, full eye contact kiss on the openmouth of Paul Morris, Bruce Gilbert and the entire gang there!!

April 18th – OSHAWA (the marquee)
It feels like ages since we played here (well, since we played anywhere!) and we are really juiced up to try this out in the ‘SHWA with our friends at The Rock 94.9!! (sorry to use the term ”SHWA”…. it kind of makes me feel mildly inappropriate like using the term “taint” or “choad” in mixed company!) The Rock has been wickedly supportive of us and we are pumped to go and try this crazy thing out!! To Doug Elliot and the gang, we salute you and can’t wait to tickle the collective “SHWAS” of your fine community!

So this is it for now. We have more shows like this in May as well that we will announce shortly. What we are really trying to do is to bring this concept coast to coast, but first steps first. Be patient and just think, “those Ontario shows will suck compared to what we get out here, with all a’dem bugs having to be ironed out!!” That should make you feel somewhat better.

New songs on the go, but currently hating everything …. zzzzzzzzzz.

Fuck, I need to get out of here fast and escape all the nom nom nom …. and find me some om om om ! I’m getting a little edgy and almost all of my senses are rebelling. I’m feeling stressed and I’m pretty sure that although I didn’t eat anything, I’ll still have the cacarells …. grazie McDonalds.

29 comments

Gotta go through Moncton to get to Halifax and of course the “Shortcut to Moncton” is on the way back from Fredericton, either way will be looking forward to having you at one of Moncton’s many soft seat venues.

Finally – another band that understands that people want more! Was lucky enough to see the recent show in Vancouver and was left wanting a handful of TQMD songs even after a monster setlist.

Compare recent stories of a couple of artists I’ve seen in Vancouver;

Big Sugar: Plays for 3.5 hours, hits noise curfew. Comes back with an acoustic guitar and banjo, no PA in order to keep playing past curfew.

Black Keys: Hit Commodore Ballroom just as they’re taking off and could have sold out somewhere far bigger by the time they get there. Have six albums under their belt but play for 70 minutes including intermission and encore.

I’ve never understood why a band would cross this monster country to lay down a 70 minute show. Just makes no f*cking sense.

Just wanted to take time to thank Jag and the rest of IME for the kind words. It’s not hard to look good when you work with such a great band!!! The experience for all of us at the Oakville Centre was just as amazing and we are looking and planning for your return! Have a great tour, feed on the energy and let the creative flow! As you say and what we believe in at the Oakville Centre “it’s all about the music”

When I first got my tickets, for the Oakville show, I was unsure of the seated format. Like the next guy, I enjoy going to show, drinking beers, jumping up and down, and rocking out. The Oakville show was the best concert, I have ever been to, I Mother Earth or other. Given that you guys are all so talented, it was a great experience to sit back and focus on all the more delicate elements and details of the music. It was a completley different experience and one that I felt compliments your music perfectly.

I would think it is easier for you guys to feed of the energy from the more traditional shows, but I hope that you continue to add the odd theatre venue here and there (asterix Toronto).

Just found out you will be in St. Catherine a couple of days after I leave Toronto. I live in Edmonton and (other than your grandparents) I am likely your oldest fan. At 57 and a transplanted Mexican-American from East LA I was happy to discover Real Music was being made again when I discovered IME in the 90s after my move to the Great White North. Grew up a Santana fan so your Earth, Wind & C track made me a fan for life. I am doing everything I can to work it out so I can catch your show. Blessings to you all.

Just found out you will be in St. Catherine a couple of days after I leave Toronto. I live in Edmonton and (other than your grandparents) I am likely your oldest fan. At 57 and a transplanted Mexican-American from East LA and a huge Carlos Santana fan I was happy to discover Real Music was being made again when I discovered IME in the 90safter my move to the Great White North. YourL Earth, Wind & C track made me a fan for life. I am doing everything I can to work it out so I can catch your show. Blessings to you all.

We were front row center for the Christmas fest and your goosebump inducing acoustic performance. So the other day while walking through Epcot in Disney World, my wife jumped on Facebook quickly to discover the London show. We snagged up what must have been some of the first VIP tickets to the show and have been blasting all 4 albums on random ever since.

We’ve watched every youtube video out there of the past years worth of performances that we couldn’t make it to, and it is so unbelievable awesome to have you guys putting it all together for one full show. If all goes as planned, we’ll be right back there, front row center.

Jag my man! Lovin the road warrior stories (well, Mickey D’s is not much of a war zone….maybe in 30 years or so). I’m really bummed about the whole ‘Shwa show. I had tix for OCPA show, my son and I were coming from Cobourg! I was deathly ill on the Thursday and couldn’t sell them in time. You may have seen our empty seats, row 10 near the middle. Now you’re coming even closer, with an AMAZING show and I am terrified to check with the boss lady, considering it’s half the price for a better show!!!! I’m losing my mind waiting to see you guys live! Come to the Park Theatre in Cobourg so she has no excuse to say no (or send me tix for the Marquis)!!!!!

Tiny tidbit about ‘Shwa shows, I saw Tenage Head at Ontaraio Place when I was 16, almost 30 years later, I saw them with my wife at some chicken place in Oshawa, on a whim, intimate gig with 50 fans….. within a few months Frankie Venom had passed. I was soooooooo glad we went, and promise you’ll all live long and prosper if I come see YOU guys!

Jag, your words are always a pleasure to read, no matter the content.
Oakville was the ultimate IME show for me as yet, just slightly ahead of the March/2012 Toronto shows, but just as meaningful The after show chat was very refreshing with a comical flare lol. So by adding an acoustic portion to this type of event you are creating a fan’s dream !!!
Looking forward to all three above shows, and whatever else you may have up your sleeves…they must be pretty long sleeves !!! Thank you

Was at the Oakville show and was blown away….unfortunately I had never seen you guys live before, although have been a big fan since the beginning! Was so lucky to pass by Paradiso on route to dinner with my nephew before the show and saw you guys dining in the back room…insisted the hostess seat us near you! You guys were so “real” and obviously appreciative of the fans which made me like you that much more, although I never thought that possible. I have seen MANY bands live over the years, many BIG acts, and you absolutely stand up there in the top!

The Oakville show was amazing. Awesome jams, tracks i’ve never heard live before (Sense of Henry) which i’m still trying to figure out on guitar since ’97. I’ll pay 200 bucks for a ticket if you include tabs! hahaha

Awesome blog – interesting to read your thoughts on the comeback that all of your fans have been wishing for! First of many times I saw the band was at Summersault in London – a looooong time ago (maybe 16 yrs or more)- and some huge dude jumped on my toe and broke it but I stuck around because I reallllly wanted to see you guys hoping when I see you in London (for both parts – super exciting) that I don’t get anything broken haha! London loves you guys and I know it will be a cool show. Appreciate the time you take to write the blog! Best wishes! See ya in the L dot!!